The famous “One if by land, two if by sea …” phrase from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” refers to a secret signal – lanterns hung in Boston’s Old North Church – that alerted patriots to British troop movements on the eve of revolution. But behind the poetry was a plan, and behind that plan stood Dr. Joseph Warren, a revolutionary organizer who wasn’t about to leave anything to chance.
On the night of April 18, 1775, as tensions boiled over in the colonies, Warren dispatched not one, but two riders to sound the alarm across the countryside.
Paul Revere took the water route, slipping across the Charles River to Charlestown before galloping off into the darkness on a borrowed horse. William Dawes traveled by land, setting off from Boston through Roxbury and over the narrow neck of land into Cambridge. They shared a mission: to warn the countryside – and specifically Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington – that British troops were on the move.
But Revere and Dawes didn’t stop in Lexington. Believing the British aimed to seize weapons stockpiled farther west, they made a bold decision to press on, joined by another rider, Samuel Prescott, and extended their mission all the way to Concord.
Although neither Revere nor Dawes made in to Concord, Prescott did, and the warning reached the minutemen just in time – leading to a confrontation at the North Bridge that resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers and two colonists and would help ignite the Revolutionary War. There the British troops turned tail, fleeing back to Boston, during which time they were attacked multiple times by militiamen.
Cambridge, though sometimes overshadowed in Revolutionary lore, was far from a quiet backdrop. According to historian John Bell, author of “The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War,” the city was a hotbed of revolutionary energy. After the Powder Alarm, patriot militiamen flooded into Cambridge, which soon became a hub for the patriot cause. By 1775, the city had transformed into a garrison town: Harvard dorms, churches and private homes were commandeered to house soldiers. Loyalists fled – first to Boston, then to Halifax and eventually back to Britain.
Dawes, often eclipsed by Revere in popular memory, is described by Bell as “a charming man with a good sense of humor,” known for his patriotic style – wearing American-made clothing to church in protest of British imports. His family was well-connected, and he “knew everybody in town.”
Today, Dawes’ midnight ride through Cambridge is memorialized by horseshoes embedded in the sidewalk – a tribute brought to life each year by the National Lancers, Massachusetts’ official mounted cavalry squadron.
On Monday, in honor of the Revolution’s 250th anniversary, there was a costumed ride retracing Dawes’ route. A rider played the part of Dawes on horseback through Cambridge Common, greeted by a warm crowd of locals and veterans. The journey had begun two hours earlier in Roxbury, with brief stops in Brookline and Allston, before delivering a ceremonial scroll to Cambridge mayor E. Denise Simmons. After a short pause, the ride trotted past Harvard Law School and down Massachusetts Avenue toward Arlington and Lexington – much as it was 250 years ago. A police cruiser provided escort.
A commemorative ceremony on the common, led by veterans, featured remarks from Army veteran Dale Kurtz, who recounted the notorious tale of Benedict Arnold, and from Simmons, who offered a powerful reflection:
“This is not just a celebration of the past,” she said. “It’s a reminder that the freedoms we enjoy today were hard-won – and that the burden of safeguarding those freedoms is on us each Patriots’ Day.”
Among those gathered was Judy Delaney, 73, a lifelong Cantabrigian whose father served in Japan and Korea. “I’ve probably come to this ceremony 30 or 35 times,” she said. “There are things we just take for granted as citizens. It’s good to be reminded of what people did for our freedom.”
As the ceremony came to a close, the haunting notes of taps drifted across the lawn, played by West Cambridge native Robinson Pyle.
Reflecting on the 250th anniversary of the revolution, Pyle said, “It’s a milestone for sure. The way the country is going right now – it’s proof this is still a great experiment.”
Historian John Bell added a more sobering note:
“Our republican government is again in danger of one-person rule,” he said. “And unfortunately, a large minority of people support it. This is exactly what the framers feared.”
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